Redlands football carries momentum through Miller win

In Thursday’s 45-0 rout of Miller, Redlands was not a threat to lose the game.

But coach Jim Walker was worried about another threat.

“The thing to evaluate is momentum. You want to keep that feeling, the energy (you came in with) to the other end of the game,” Walker said. “We started off slow, which was to be expected. But we got it going, led by our defense.”

Walker felt that it was a goal-line stand in the final seconds of the first half with Redlands protecting a 14-0 lead that provided momentum heading into the second half.

“That (defensive stop) was probably one of the many plays that really stirred the pot for us,” Walker said.

One of the standouts in the game was senior linebacker D.J. Biggers, who had three sacks, forced a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown.

“He’s been banged up so much (hamstring injury) he missed a couple of games, and we needed him healthy for a stretch run,” Walker said of Biggers. “Now he have him back at full speed. He gets everything going. He’s definitely a messenger.”

A messenger of what?

“That he’s ready to play,” Walker said.

Regardless of the records, Redlands’ big game annually is the Smudge Pot game against Redlands East Valley, which is Week 9 each year. But first, Redlands has a big game against Cajon this week.

“Our problem has been being able to maintain the focus for after the REV game,” Walker said. “We know this week, it’s a huge game for us. Cajon is going to fight, to keep their playoff hopes alive.”